An Act of Humanity

Today my wife and I were exploring Bryce Canyon National Park. We did the 17 mile scenic drive that is packed full of incredible views.

We were on our way towards the exit of the park to grab a bite at the famous Ruby’s Inn when we saw this vehicle off the road. This guy wasn’t use to driving in these conditions and probably was a little too busy site seeing. He went off the road and was buried in snow with his pregnant wife and their two year old (I’m guessing on the age). It was late in the day and cell phone service was spotty. Although this is a busy National Park, in the winter it’s empty.They said “I guess this is what happens when you are born and raised in California.” I said “don’t worry, I’m born and raised from Minnesota and we’re going to get you guys out!”

Initially (after the photo) we gave it a try with his wife driving while we pushed and it slipped further off the road. They weren’t sure how to get it out and although it didn’t look good, I was optimistic and have a good amount of experience getting vehicles unstuck in the snow. Then a wonderful act of humanity happened. Every single car that drove by over the next 15 minutes stopped to lend a hand. There were two young guys from Israel that were knowledgeable and had great work ethic! They were a big part of making this a success and showed great leadership.

When you’re in this situation there’s a few things that can do to give yourself a great shot at getting out of the snow that we applied.

– Clear a path of all the snow that is in the direction you are going to drive. Shovels are great and luckily one of the people who stopped by had one. Before he showed up I was using my hands to build a path.

– Gather branches to put on your path to gain traction. The greener the better. When the wheels spin it turns the snow into ice and you’ll need all the traction you can get.

– When you attempt to drive the vehicle out you will want to rock it with the gas and pushing it. A good ole three count works great.

– Make sure you have something solid to push onto. We rolled down the windows to use that space as a great place to push.

– The more people pushing the better. This seems obvious but the synergy of people working together towards a common goal can create incredible results.

– Lastly, keep in mind that the vehicle is on ice and snow. Which means it may slip and slide at any point. Try to determine the path it would take if things went wrong and do not put yourself in harms way. Once you have momentum if you are in a spot that the vehicle may slide into you back up immediately or move to the rear to push. Getting a vehicle out is not worth someone’s safety.

Ok so after applying the above techniques we gave it whirl. By this time around 10 people had stopped by and we were able to get it out. Everyone bonded and enjoyed the experience. To watch the “rescue” click below.